


My Heart Is In Ohio

by b_dubinsky



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, I am so sorry if none of this is accurate, I love Goose, M/M, Soulmate AU, and his virgin frog boyfriend, its sorta all over the place too with the sort of inner-dialogue, my first one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-23 15:20:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19704094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/b_dubinsky/pseuds/b_dubinsky
Summary: Danton’s soulmate has pretty much said ‘fuck the rules’ since birth. Well, his birth anyway, he doesn’t know if he’s older or younger than his soulmate but he could also be a right on target with them which is a whole thing honestly.





	My Heart Is In Ohio

**Author's Note:**

> title from 'ohio is for lovers' by hawthorne heights

Danton’s soulmate has pretty much said ‘fuck the rules’ since birth. Well, his birth anyway, he doesn’t know if he’s older or younger than his soulmate but he could also be a right on target with them which is a whole thing honestly. 

Things in his childhood started out as normal as they could and by the time he could actually understand anything they were saying, (around age 1) his mom and dad were telling him stories about how someday he’d meet the person that would complete him and have the same little jagged edges of a jigsaw piece to fit in with him. 

When he turned 5, his ribs had this burning type of hurt when he woke up one morning and he just left it up to the fact that he probably got poison ivy or something. 

He went about his day as a normal 5 year old would and when he went to get in the bathtub before bed, he decided to look at his side to examine it. 

What he found scared him so he started crying and ran to his mom. 

“Oh, honey, that’s coming in very early.” She commented, running her finger across it. 

“What is it?” He asked, frightened because, like, what if aliens invaded his body the night before or something. 

“It’s your soul mark, Dan.” She muttered, still running her finger along the black blotch of ink. 

He let that be and went back to the bathroom to take his bath. 

Whenever he went to his room, he looked in his mirror and tried to read what it said backwards. 

_ 614. _

What significance does three numbers have to his soulmate?

Why has he already bonded if his mom said it was too early? 

He went to bed and left it alone. 

When he turned 10, he asked his mom these things. 

“What does this number have to do with my soulmate?” He asked curiously the day before school started back. 

“Well, usually your mark is your soulmates area code so that means it’s the number associated with where they live. So 604 is on me and your dad and it’s on your soulmate as well. What I’m confused about is that yours is 614 so I don’t know if that’s somewhere here in Canada or if maybe it came in wrong or if it’s right and we just have to see where they’re at.” 

“Can’t we look up the number? Like the code or whatever and see where it’s at?” 

“Yeah we can do that for you.” She smiled and they walked over to their computer and looked it up. 

Waiting for the page to load was like waiting for Christmas to Danton and he really couldn’t wait, chewing on his nails and keeping his eyes wide open. 

Finally the page popped up and it confused Danton. 

Columbus, Ohio. 

“How? I don’t-“ His mom muttered, also confused how Danton bonded with someone in a completely different country. 

“I’m gonna take you to a specialist ok? I don’t know how this could have happened.” 

Danton couldn’t really say anything so he just went up to his room and laid flat on his bed. 

_ Hey can you hear me? I’m trying this out because I’m really confused.  _

What the?

“Mom!” He yelled, sitting up. 

“Yes, sweetheart?” She asked as she came through his door, sitting next to him. 

“There’s a different voice coming through my head.” 

“What’d it say?” 

“It asked if I could hear it and then said it was trying that out because it was confused.” 

“Your soulmate is communicating with you. It’s ok. You can talk back to them.” She smiled. 

“How do I do that?” 

“Just think about something you wanna say to them and it’ll go through.” 

Danton laid back down and focused on saying something. 

_ Yeah I can hear you. Are you ok? _

He waited only a second before he got a reply. 

_ Yeah I’m fine I’m just confused because my mom tells me that soul marks aren’t supposed to come in until you meet your soulmate and bond with them.  _

He has to think for a second. 

_ Yeah my mom told me the same thing. She told me that the numbers are area codes too. _

Wow that seems bad. Like maybe he already knows where to find his soulmate. 

_ Yeah that’s true. You don’t live in Dublin or around here do you? Because my mom thought the zero may have been a mistake.  _

Dublin? 

_ No I live in Langley.  _

_ Is that in Ohio too? _

So it is Ohio. 

_ Um, no it’s in BC.  _

Are they even going to know where BC is?

_ Oh my god, you live in Canada? _

_ Yes. I do.  _

_ How did we bond then?  _

_ I don’t know. Is it bad?  _

Wait was that a laugh? 

_ No it isn’t bad I just wanna know when we’re supposed to meet.  _

_ Oh yeah, me too.  _

And that’s really the first time Danton can put a gender on it. 

His soulmate is a boy.

_ I really need to sleep, though. It’s late here. I think you go on pacific time so it’s not as late there.  _

_ Yeah if you have to sleep then sleep.  _

There’s a pause. 

_ Wanna talk tomorrow? _

Danton thinks. 

_ Of course.  _

_ Cool. Goodnight.  _

_ Night.  _

“Mom?” He asked. She stayed in there through that. 

“Yeah, hun?” 

“I think it’s a boy.” 

“That’s fine, baby. That’s fine.” 

“And he lives in Dublin. It’s around Columbus.” 

“Does he sound cute?” 

“Mom.” He groaned. 

“Alright, go to sleep kiddo.” She ruffles his hair. 

“He wants to talk tomorrow. Like, more in detail than we did just now.” 

“Ok that’s fine. It’ll be good to know more about each other.” 

“Alright. Goodnight mom.” 

“Good night Dan.” 

Danton did make time for him the next day. Of course he did. He wanted to know all he could and while he was getting on the bus to go home, he said something. 

_ Give me like, 30 minutes and we can talk.  _

_ Ok, sounds good.  _

As he thought about it, this guy sounded really cute and he didn’t know how to process that. 

When he got home, he told him he was ready. 

_ Getcha a snack, I wanna talk to you for awhile. You seem interesting  _

_ As interesting as a 10 year old can be, I guess.  _

_ I’m older than you. _

_ How much older?  _

_ I’m 12. _

He seemed to speak very well for a 12 year old, to Danton. 

_ Nice. Wanna start with names.  _

_ Of course. I’m Sean. But it isn’t like S-h-a-w-n it’s S-e-a-n.  _

Danton laughed. 

_ I’m Danton. My mom calls me Dan.  _

_ I think I’m gonna call you Danny.  _

_ That works.  _

_ What do you look like, Danny?  _

_ Ew gross. I’m a blonde. I have blue eyes and I’m really skinny. I’m weird looking. Some kid at school told me I look like ET.  _

_ Aww I bet that is totally untrue.  _

_ Well we’ll see eventually. What about you? _

_ Well I’m a dirty blonde and I have grey eyes. I kind of look like a big toe.  _

Danton literally busted out laughing. 

_ Sweet. Why do you think we bonded.  _

_ I don’t know. Maybe sooner or later when we meet, our bond is gonna be so strong that it has to set in super early.  _

_ True.  _

_ What do you like to do?  _

_ I like to watch movies with my mom and dad and siblings. I play hockey too. That’s about it.  _

_ I play hockey!  _

_ Wow really? Columbus just got a team a few years ago didn’t they? _

_ Yeah they did. It’s cool to watch. You just have Vancouver right? _

_ Yeah.  _

_ Who’s your favorite? _

_ I don’t know I mean, for me it’s just any team that is playing when I’m watching. I love hockey so it isn’t really about a team.  _

_ I’m sort of obligated to love Columbus because I’m American and there’s some sense of loving your hometown here.  _

_ So are you in middle school?  _

_ Yeah. Just started seventh grade.  _

_ I just started grade five.  _

_ I forgot Canadians say it backwards.  _

_ No Americans say it backwards.  _

_ Bro, wrong.  _

_ No.  _

_ Well, what’s the deepest thing I need to know about you. Are you like, a 10 year old psychopath and have killed people? _

_ I like to think I’m a good kid, thank you.  _

_ I’m sure you are, I’m just playin’.  _

-

They made sure they talked every day even if it was only a few minutes. 

He remembers vaguely the first time he was able to feel something Sean felt. 

He was sitting in his last class of the day his freshman year and he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his side; the one opposite to where his mark laid. 

He raised his hand, excusing himself to the bathroom and when he got there, he instantly shot a message to Sean. 

_ Are you ok? _

_ No.  _

That was very blunt. Unlike Sean, honestly. 

_ What’s wrong? _

_ I was practicing and this fucking dick cross checked me and when I fell, his skate cut me.  _

_ Wait, at practice?  _

_ Yeah.  _

_ A teammate? _

_ Yes, Danton.  _

Oh shit his full name. 

_ Sean, I’m sorry.  _

_ Don’t be, babe. Not your fault.  _

_ Will you be ok though? Like you’re not gonna bleed out or anything right? _

_ No I’ll be fine. Probably won’t get to play in my tournament but it’s ok.  _

Oh shit yeah, his tournament. 

_ Sean, I have to go back to class will you be alright? _

_ Yeah. If I need you, I’ll tug, ok? _

_ Yeah. Be careful.  _

_ Sure thing, Danny.  _

He’d be lying if he said he didn’t worry about Sean the rest of the day. 

-

He was 16 and committing to Denver when Sean told him he was getting drafted in a couple months. 

_ You never told me this before? _

_ I didn’t think it’d matter, Danton.  _

_ Of course it matters! Why did you think it wouldn’t fucking matter? I care about you and I would’ve loved to hear that. Sean, I love you.  _

_ Danton.  _

_ Yeah I said it. And I mean it. I just can’t believe you wouldn’t tell me you were getting drafted.  _

_ I’m not going straight to the bigs Danny. I’m going to college. I told you that. I never figured I’d even potentially get drafted so I wasn’t going to tell you unless it was gonna happen.  _

_ Well it is happening and now I don’t know if I can make it to support you.  _

_ Danton you don’t have to make it. You’re always with me, remember? _

_ Yeah. You’re right. Sorry I’m making such a big deal out of it.  _

_ No, no it’s fine. I should’ve told you.  _

_ While we’re speaking about it, I’m committing to Denver and I’ll probably get drafted too.  _

_ That’s great, Danny.  _

_ Thanks. I’m trying a lot harder.  _

_ I’m sure you’re amazing. Hey, I gotta go so I’m not late. I have a banquet. It’s the end of season thing and then I have another one after that for a sort of end of program thing.  _

_ Ok. Have fun, Sean.  _

_ Ok I will.  _

A pause before another message. 

_ And Danton? I love you, too.  _

He thought about those words for awhile, thinking about how they were said and what brought them up. He knew he meant it. He had wanted to tell Sean for a long time that he loved him, that was just the way he felt. He knew now that he could hear Sean whenever he wanted. He could feel when Sean would tug on his end of the bonds that wrapped around each of their hearts and connected to one another’s. He could feel, now, the pain and sadness and joy that his soulmate did and he loved every minute of it, just like he did his soulmate in and of himself. 

Those three words didn’t necessarily change them and what they are, no, but he could certainly feel the way Sean’s part of the bond turned upward happily.

Those types of things were the things Danton loved about their ‘relationship’.

His mom still consistently asks about things with Sean, but it isn’t the thing that their conversations mainly revolve around. They’ve changed over the years of course, but now that he’s a little older, his mom has started to subtly ask if he’s okay with the fact that his soulmate is a boy and he had honestly gotten over it pretty quick. 

So when she asked about it that night, he couldn’t help the outburst he had. It wasn’t containable. 

“Mom, why don’t you just say what you’re trying to!” He yelled at her. He was sick of the dodging.

“Do you want your soulmate to be this boy? Because we can change it, Dan. Get it to be a nice girl from around here.” 

“I am so happy with Sean, mom. You have no idea. I can’t believe you think that I wouldn’t want to be with my soulmate even if he is a boy. I don’t know when I’m going to meet him for real, but I know that he is already perfect to me so no matter what he looks like or anything like that, I’ll still love him. If you have an issue with that, I don’t care.”

“You love him, Danton? You’re positive?”

“100%, mom.” 

“Then I don’t care. He is your soulmate and it must be a very strong bond because you bonded without even meeting him. When you guys do meet, I hope he’s the most beautiful person you’ve ever met.” She smiled, grabbing his shoulders. 

“He already is.” He promised quietly.

-

He was 18 when they had an actual conversation for the first time. 

They have obviously had tons of conversations with one another through their bond (some sexual type outings, too. Bonds are great for that because you can feel their ecstacy with your own.) but they actually were going to talk on the phone with each other and Danton couldn’t tell if it was going to be scary or exactly what he wanted.

Probably both, he concluded while laying on his Denver dorm room bed when his phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Danton.” He heard, sighed into the phone.

“Sean.” He smiled, rolling over onto his stomach. 

Sean was almost 21 by now and that sort of spooked Danton. 

“What are you doing?” Sean asked with some background ruffling noise. 

“I’m just chilling in here. What are you doing?” 

“Same as you. I don’t really wanna like, sound weird or anything, but you sound a hell of a lot different on here than you do through the bond.”

“Yeah same for you.” He laughed and Sean joined in after a second. 

“Bro, so like, how’s it going?”

“Great, great, man. How about you?”

“Not like that, Danny. Like, how’s college? We haven’t talked about it and you’re a little freshman.”

“Ok, literally, shut up. You were a freshman not too long ago.” He giggled. Like actually giggled like a teenage girl.

“Yeah, well, you’re a Canadian who came to America to go to college. It wasn’t even like, an Alaskan college or Minnesota or something. You literally went as far as you could go, in Denver, to go to college.” 

“I wanted to get an education. Not be a knucklehead in the OHL or something like that.” 

“Yeah I feel that.” 

And that sparked the feel for the rest of the night. Sean, Danton found out, was just as joking for real on the phone as he was through their bond and he wanted nothing more than to hear his jokes and fall deep into the sound of his laugh every day of his life. 

Then he realized that he can because they are soulmates. Meant to last forever through anything and everything. 

-

He is a rookie showing up to Bruins camp in 2016, a fresh face hoping to impress everyone and get a crack at a real NHL team. 

He met a bunch of guys, not really even remembering their names and at the end of it all, Providence is what he got. 

At the start of the season, he got introduced to his teammates and the last one he met?

“Hi, I’m Danton Heinen.”

“Sean Kuraly. Nice to meet you Danny.” When he looked up, he saw two of the most beautiful blue-gray eyes he’d ever seen and the bond he knew for so long freaked out. It was like it was in a frenzy and he knew that he finally met his soulmate. Sean.

“I-I, hi.” He stuttered, not knowing if he should shake his hand like the others or hug him like he’s always wanted to do. And man, he looks like a great hugger.

“Hey. What’s up?” He asked, pulling Danton away from their teammates with an arm around his shoulder. 

“I-Oh my god, it’s you. It’s like actually you.” He whispered, stopping to turn and face Sean, holding his face in his hands. 

He thought back on all the times that his mom asked him how he thought he would look and he was right. Even if he didn’t look as beautiful as he did, he knew that he would be perfect anyway. 

The universe doesn’t fuck up a bond as good as theirs.

-

He was 23 and they just lost game 7 of the Cup Final. He remembers Charlie hunched over in disbelief and utter sadness, Jake staring blankly at the celebrating Blues, and Sean next to him, holding his arm. Grounding him. Making sure he knows he isn’t going through this alone. 

Honestly, yeah, it sucks, but all he keeps thinking is ‘man I feel terrible for Matt.’

It must travel through the bond because he gets a message soon after. 

_ He’s a big boy. He’ll be ok. I’m just worried about you. _

_ I’ll be fine, babe.  _

He tries to make it sound believable. 

“Don’t lie to me.” Sean speaks as they’re lining up to shake hands. 

He remembers Zee stressing to them all that, no matter what, you congratulate the opposing team on how far they have come or winning the cup. 

He didn’t think they’d be on the ‘how far they’ve come’ side of it. 

He’s 23 and all he can think about going through the handshake line is a promise he made when he was 15. 

He can still hear it ringing through his brain.

_ If we play on the same team when we’re older, I promise you that we will win a Stanley Cup together. Hold me to it, because I mean it.  _

All that means nothing now. 

He knows that they’re going to go back home and they’re going to lick each others wounds but it is a big step in their relationship; venturing into the heartbreak side of it. 

-

He’s 37 and Sean is almost 40 when they decide to hang up their skates together. They want to settle down together for real now. They don’t want to try the whole kids thing because they want their lives to remain the same as it always has; about each other. 

They agreed earlier in life that they were going to wait to visit the others hometown and meet parent until they retired and now is that time. 

He takes Sean all through Langley and shows him his mom and dad and siblings. His mom gushes over his soulmate and talks his ear off with embarrassing stories of when he was younger. 

He stresses how excited he is to go to Dublin and he really is. He wants to see the place that Sean grew up. Where he learned to skate and love the game. The bedroom in which they conversed through the bond countless nights and the basement where he used to shoot pucks. With Sean, he wants it all.

So when they get to Dublin and meet Sean’s parents and brothers, to say he gets emotional is an understatement. Sean had to excuse them from the dinner his mom made and take Danton up to his room. 

“Baby, are you ok?” He asked, holding Danny’s hand.

“I’m fine, it’s just a little overwhelming to know that, like, these are the people you went to when you were concerned with our bond. These are the walls that you looked at when we talked to each other. Your entire life is here, pretty much.”

“Danton Heinen, my life is wherever you are.”

“I love you.” He smiled, kissing Sean’s nose.

“I love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> im in my sean kuraly feels, cue a soulmate fic with his boyfriend!!! I forgot how to hyperlink so my tumblr is s-kuraly, my number is 16063156996, and my snap is joshklingy


End file.
